2/9 Marr & Colton |
Welch Residence
Bismarck, North Dakota

History of the Marr & Colton Organ at the Welch Residence

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The Charles L. Welch Residence Marr & Colton Organ began life as a 2/5 organ installed by the Marr & Colton Company in the Bismarck Theatre where it was used to score silent films. As the Marr & Colton Company is not known to have ever compiled a complete opus list, the installation date of this instrument is not known, but can be assumed to have be sometime in the 1920s. The original ranks appear to have been Tibia Clausa, Concert Flute, Salicional, Vox Humana, and Trumpet.

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Once sound films began phasing out the silent film era, John Hughes purchased the organ from the theatre, after which he sold it to Reinhold "Reiny" Delzer, who installed in his living room and enlarged it to a 2/6, likely adding the Diapason rank.

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Reiny was looking to enlarge the Marr & Colton and after sealing a quick deal to purchase the 4/20 Publix 1 Wurlitzer in his living room, he decided to sell the Marr & Colton and asked his neighbors across the street, Charles "Chuck" & Fran Welch if they would like to purchase the organ. They agreed, and built a 1,500-plus square foot addition to their house to make room for the organ. In 1961, the organ was moved to the Welch residence at 610 W Ave F in Bismarck by Gerhard Ephart of Minneapolis, MN. Gerhard also installed the Publix 1 Wurlitzer at the Delzer residence. It took over a year to complete the installation of the Marr & Colton in the Welch residence. With two organs now in the neighborhood, neighbors of the Delzer and Welch families nicknamed their street "organ hill."

 

The Welch Marr & Colton and Delzer Wurlitzer were the featured instruments of the 1963 national convention of the American Theatre Organ Enthusiasts and famous organists such as Eddie Dunstedter and George Wright played it. As neither the Welch nor the Delzer residences were large enough to accommodate the full convention crowd, a pipe had been installed underneath Avenue F in Bismarck, which connected the music rooms of both homes via a state of the art sound system. That way, when the music room at either home became crowded, some of the attendees could walk across the street to the other home's music room and enjoy the concert via the sound system. It was said that the sound system in each house was so incredible that it was not an issue for audiences to enjoy hearing either organ play through it. This pipe was removed by construction workers years later when it was disturbed during renovations to Avenue F.

 

Following its installation at the Welch Residence three more ranks were added to the organ (probably the Orchestral Oboe, Clarinet, and Violin Celeste) and the organ remained there for the next 60 years and beyond where it was used for entertaining visitors and other such events. In the early years of the Red River Theatre Organ Society, trips from Fargo to Bismarck for chapter meetings at the Welch and Delzer residences were frequent and very much enjoyed. 

 

Chuck Welch died in 2008 at the age of 92 and Fran Welch died in 2007 at the age of 93.

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The organ was last played in ca. 1990 until November, 2023, when members of the Red River Theatre Organ Society visited it to play and document it. One of the nine ranks, namely the Orchestral Oboe (manufactured by Dennison), was purchased by the RRTOS and added to the 3/12 Wurlitzer at A Center for the Arts in Fergus Falls, MN.

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As it has not been used for RRTOS programming for several decades and is not very playable anymore, it is no longer considered an RRTOS chapter instrument.

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See the gallery photos below for the instrument specification.